98 BULLETIN 137, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



these shields are narrower than the oblong Moro shields of similar 

 type. 



Rounded or circular carved wood shields appear to be more com- 

 mon to the central or Visayan Islands, although they appear as far 

 to the south and southwest as the islands of the Tawi Tawi group. 

 Among the Moro the circular shield also is employed as a head 

 cover. 



In describing the weapons of the Bontoc Igorot * Dr. A. E. Jenks 

 gives the following data relative to the shields employed by the 

 pagan tribes of northern Luzon : 



Shields are universally made and used by the Igorot. They are made by 

 the men of each pueblo, and are seldom bought or sold. They are cut from 

 single pieces of wood, and are generally constructed of very light wood, though 

 some are heavy. The hand grip is cut in the solid timber, is almost invariably 

 made for the left hand, and will usually accommodate only three fingers, 

 the thumb and little finger remaining outside the grip and free to press for- 

 ward the upper and lower ends of the shield, respectively, slanting it to glance 

 a blow of a spear. 



Within the present boundary of Bontoc Province there are three distinct 

 patterns of wooden shields in use in three quite distinct culture areas. There 

 is still another shield immediately beyond the western border of the Province, 

 but which is believed to be produced also in the Bontoc area. 



First is the shield of the Bontoc culture area. It is usually about 3 feet 

 long and 1 foot wide, is blaclreued with a greasy soot, though now and again 

 one in original wood is seen. The upper ijart or " chief " of the shield is cut, 

 leaving three points projecting several inches above the solid field ; the lower 

 end or " base " is cut, leaving two points. Across both ends of the shield is a 

 strengthening lace of bejuco, passing through perforations from front to back. 

 The front surface of the shield is most prominent over the deep-cut hand grip 

 at the boss or " fess-point," toward which a wing approaches on both the 

 dexter and sinister sides of the front of the shield, being carved slightly on the 

 field. This is the usual Bontoc shield, but some few have meaningless straight- 

 line decorations cut in the field. 



In the Tinglayan culture area, immediately north of Bontoc, the usual shield 

 is very similar to the above, except that various sections of both the face and 

 back of the shield are of natural wood or are colored dull red. The strength- 

 ening of bejuco lacings and the raised wings are also found. 



Still farther north is the Kalinga shield, a slim gracefully formed shield, 

 differing from the typical Bontoc weapon chiefly in its more graceful outline. 

 It is of a uniform black color and has the bejuco lacings the same as the 

 others. 



The fourth variety, made at Bagneu, immediately across the Bontoc border, 

 in Lepanto, and probably also made and certainly used near at hand in Bontoc, 

 is quite similar to the Bontoc type, but is smaller and cruder. It is un- 

 colored, and on its front has crude drawings of snakes and frogs (or perhaps 

 men) drawn with soot paint. 



Banawi area, south of the Bontoc area, has a shield differing markedly from 

 the others. It is longer, usually somewhat wider, and not cut at either end. 



* Bthnological Survey Publications, vol. 1, p. 124. 



